West Virginia Watch, News from the States, Bluefield Daily Telegraph - With a special legislative session to address the state budget on the horizon, advocates for West Virginia Medicaid called on state policy makers Monday to fund the health care program. Read the full article. Ellen Allen, executive director of West Virginians for Affordable Health…
Health
Bolts - In the months leading up to her death, Ashley Omps of Charleston, West Virginia, felt ashamed to be taking suboxone. It was prescribed to her to treat opioid dependency by limiting cravings and withdrawal symptoms, and though it was clearly a much healthier alternative to the pills and heroin she’d been taking before,…
Mountain State Spotlight, Beckley Register-Herald - The lack of a disease or a death is a success that’s hard to celebrate, even though it provides people with the health to live life freely. West Virginia’s high childhood vaccination rate is one of these successes. Read the full article. The state, unlike 45 others, requires children in…
Mountain State Spotlight - West Virginia’s babies and new mothers are at concerningly high risk of dying during and around childbirth. One of the key state strategies for addressing these problems are the infant and maternal mortality review teams, government-mandated panels to identify why people are dying, which groups are most at risk and what can be…
Mountain State Spotlight - West Virginia health officials say they urgently need nearly $300 million in new funding to help residents who desperately need drug treatment and recovery, protect the state’s children from abuse, and aid those mired in poverty. Read the full article. The health officials laid out their case to Gov. Jim Justice…
Appalachian Times - In a distressing turn of events, the federal government has raised red flags regarding the substantial decline in Medicaid health coverage for children across nine states. West Virginia, grappling with its own concerns, reports a worrying trend, sparking urgent attention to this critical issue affecting the most vulnerable demographic—children. Read the full…
Public News Service, Mountain Messenger - The federal government has warned nine states about an alarming number of children losing Medicaid health coverage, and West Virginia officials say they're also closely watching the numbers. Read the full article. According to the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, children make up around 40% of the state's Medicaid beneficiaries. The…
Medicaid is a federal-state partnership that provides health coverage to over 500,000 West Virginians on average. The program is vital to West Virginia’s hospitals and providers, with research showing Medicaid expansion has resulted in reduced uncompensated care, increases in hospital operating margins, and decreases in closures of hospitals and obstetric units. Medicaid improves hospital finances…
West Virginia MetroNews - Gov. Jim Justice and his administration say a $114 million budget gap for the state’s portion of Medicaid is under control. Read the full article. “Sure we’ve got a shortfall in Medicaid right now. Stuff happens. I could have said something a whole lot worse than that, but stuff happens all…
West Virginia News - The Public Employees Insurance Agency's Finance Board is holding public discussions across the state regarding a proposed 10% premium increase for the coming year. This increase would be in addition to the 24% increase implemented for the current year for state employees and educators. The increases are a result of legislation…